World oil prices dropped this evening on profit-taking after soaring a day earlier in the wake of surprisingly strong US and Chinese manufacturing data. Brent North Sea crude fell 59 cents to $75.76 a barrel, while US crude dipped four cents to $73.87.
Crude futures had surged by about $2 on Wednesday in the wake of strong manufacturing data from the United States and China - the world's two biggest consumers of oil.
In a volatile week's trade, oil prices had fallen sharply on Monday and Tuesday as traders worried over the pace of the US economic recovery and growing fuel inventories.
Yesterday, the oil market had shrugged off data from the US Department of Energy that showed American crude inventories jumped 3.4 million barrels last week - far higher than the 800,000 barrel rise predicted by analysts. A rise in inventories usually indicates lower demand for oil.
